The Night that Was:
Ryan Miller returned to the net for the Buffalo Sabres against the Winnipeg Jets and it probably didn’t go as well as Miller would have hoped. In a six-goal first period, Mark Flood and Bryan Little opened the scoring six minutes into the first before Derek Roy and Corey Tropp’s first NHL goal tied things at two. Tanner Glass would make it 3-2 Jets before Jason Pominville tied it at 3 after a period of play. Miller and Ondrej Pavelec stayed in the game, and the scoring didn’t stop. Little and Thomas Vanek traded goals in the second (That’s 4-4) and Dustin Byfuglien and Roy traded goals in the third (5-5). The game went to overtime and nearly to a shootout, but Vanek scored his second of the game with just 25 seconds left to give Miller and the Sabres a tough 6-5 win. Roy and Pominville had three points each for the Sabres while Vanek, Paul Gaustad, Little, Byfuglien, Glass, and Blake Wheeler all had two points for their sides. Pavelec faced 45 shots with 39 saves while Miller made just 26 saves.
The Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals faced off in a matchup of two of the better teams in their respective conferences, and it was an entertaining game until one team pulled away in the third. Michael Ryder scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the first, book-ending a goal from Alex Semin to give Dallas a 2-1 lead. John Carlson was able to tie the game in the second, but in the third it was all Dallas. Adam Burish scored 24 seconds in to the final period, Jamie Benn scored seven minutes later, and Eric Nystrom added his fourth 30 seconds later to cement a 5-2 Stars win. Benn finished the night with three points while Ryder and Burish had two each, as the Caps failed to register a multi-point scorer. Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves for the victory while Michal Neuvirth was saddled with the loss.
It was a second-straight disappointing performance at home for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night against the Florida Panthers. Jack Skille scored the lone goal of the first when he put home his first of the season halfway through the period. In the second, Marco Sturm and Tomas Kopecky scored 20 seconds apart to chase Jonas Gustavsson from the net in favour of Ben Scrivens. Scrivens didn’t have any more luck in the third as Sean Bergenheim and Shawn Matthias beat him, although Phil Kessel’s 11th did break Jose Theodore’s shutout. The former MVP made 38 saves though en route to a 5-1 win. Skille and Matthias finished with two points each for the Panthers.
Carolina dropped their third in a row last night as the New Jersey Devils scored a 3-2 comeback win over the Hurricanes. Brandon Sutter opened the scoring shorthanded in the first to make it 1-0 Canes, despite 16 shots from the Devils. Jersey got another 10 shots on Cam Ward in the second, where Dainius Zubrus beat him to tie the game. Another 10-shot frame follow in the third, but the Devils had a little more success as Petr Sykor scored and Joni Pitkanen tied it, before Adam Henrique scored the winner for New Jersey with just 3:19 left. Martin Brodeur made 25 saves for the victory, his second of the year, an while Zubrus had two points, Henrique’s goal gave him five points over his last three games.
The Rest of the Story
The Edmonton Oilers needed just 14 shots to beat the Montreal Canadiens. Ryan Smyth, Ryan Jones and Tom Gilbert scored for the Oil on three of those shots and Nikolai Khabibulin allowed just one goal from Max Pacioretty on 29 shots for the victory.
Johan Franzen had a hat-trick to lift the Red Wings past the Avalanche in a 5-2 win last night. The two teams scored two power play goals each as Val Filppula assisted on two of Franzen’s goals. Jimmy Howard made 24 saves for the win.
The Blues got goals in each period and got Ken Hitchcock a win in his debut behind the St. Louis bench, 3-0 over Chicago. TJ Oshie, Barret Jackman and Kevin Shattenkirk all had two points and Jaro Halak made 29 saves for the shutout and his second win of the season.
Minnesota skated to a 3-0 decision over Calgary last night. Darroll Powe, Dany Heatley and Guillame Latendresse all scored in the victory as Niklas Backstrom made 41 saves for the shutout. Heatley finished with a goal and an assist.
It was a back and forth game in LA between the Kings and Preds. There were four goals in the first and it was tied at two through one, but Mike Richards and Simon Gagne put the Kings up 4-2 after two and it would finish 4-3 after Patric Hornqvist brought the Preds within one.
What’s on Tonight?
The New York Rangers head to Ottawa to take on the Senators, the Philadelphia Flyers will face off against the Lightning in Tampa Bay, and the Nashville Predators visit the Anaheim Ducks.
The Injury Bug:
-Daniel Paille will undergo facial surgery later today after getting struck in the fact by a puck on Monday evening. There has been no other update on Paille’s status and he is listed as day-to-day.
-Both Ales Hemsky and Cam Barker returned to the Edmonton Oilers lineup last night. Hemsky recorded an assist in his return.
-Andrei Kostitsyn was inactive for the Canadiens last night with a lower body injury.
-Mike Green still has yet to return to the Washington Capital’s lineup because of his sprained ankle.
-Ilya Kovalchuk sat out last night and there’s no word as to whether he’ll be able to play in a home-and-home this weekend or not. The injury has been improving though.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Pittsburgh sent forward Mark Letestu to the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday for a fourth-round pick. Letestu had just one assist this year for Pittsburgh in 11 games.
-There was another minor deal yesterday. The New York Rangers traded defenseman Tomas Kundratek to Washington for forward Francois Bouchard.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
How about the night that Tanner Glass had? In just 10:32 of ice time, Glass scored a goal, added an assist, and had a plus-two rating. Glass also fought Cody McCormick in the second. Jack Skille also finished with two points, a plus-two rating and five shots in 16:37 of ice time for the Panthers against the Leafs last night.
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